Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Blamed on foxes

IUCN Status: Near Threatened

EPBC Threat Rating: N/A

IUCN Claim: “Across its range, the Platypus is also subject to predation by the introduced Red Fox, dogs and cats.’”

Studies in support

Platypus were found in fox scats (Brown 1990; Green 2003; Purcell 2008; Davis et al. 2015).

Studies not in support

No studies

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

There are no studies linking foxes to platypus populations.

Evidence linking Ornithorhynchus anatinus to foxes. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Ornithorhynchus anatinus and foxes. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that foxes contribute to the decline of Ornithorhynchus anatinus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.
Evidence linking Ornithorhynchus anatinus to foxes. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Ornithorhynchus anatinus and foxes. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that foxes contribute to the decline of Ornithorhynchus anatinus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.

References

Brown G.W. (1990) Diets of wild canids and foxes in East Gippsland 1983–1987, using predator scat analysis.. Australian Mammalogy 13, 209-213.

Davis NE, Forsyth DM, Triggs B, Pascoe C, Benshemesh J, Robley A, et al. (2015) Interspecific and Geographic Variation in the Diets of Sympatric Carnivores: Dingoes/Wild Dogs and Red Foxes in South-Eastern Australia. PLoS ONE 10(3): e0120975. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120975

Green, K. (2003). Altitudinal and temporal differences in the food of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at alpine and subalpine altitudes in the Snowy Mountains. Wildlife Research, 30(3), 245. doi:10.1071/wr02008 

Purcell, Brad V. “Order in the pack: ecology of Canis lupus dingo in the southern Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.” (2008).

Wallach et al. 2023 In Submission